Cleaning Lake O

ISSUE: A "peer review" evaluation of the Lake Okeechobee cleanup points out the obvious.

November 28, 2007

Dirty water from the north flowing into Lake Okeechobee is nothing new. It's been an enduring problem and remains a significant contributor to the pollution problems plaguing the largest lake in the southeastern United States.

So it should surprise no one in South Florida that a "peer review" finding of independent scientists highlighted the obvious: Water managers must address the cause of increased phosphorous in the Kissimmee River Basin if they ever hope to clean up Lake Okeechobee.

Fortunately, the Legislature began addressing the run-off problem, mainly from agricultural lands in Glades, Highlands, Osceola and Okeechobee counties, by committing $100 million for new projects to store and treat water flowing into the lake.

That's an initiative that drew kudos from the panel of scientists assessing the South Florida Water Management District's cleanup efforts. But they say that effort will be wasted if the district doesn't coordinate it with similar efforts to the south of the lake. The scientists also urged the district to pay more attention to sulfur deposits coming into the lake.

The district, which spans a 16-county region from Orlando to the Florida Keys, arguably isn't getting the help it needs in terms of Everglades restoration funding from Washington. It's supposed to be a joint state-federal effort, but Florida has been left pretty much on its own.

Add the equally disturbing news from officials at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which recently announced that the lack of federal funding has scuttled accurate estimates about the cost and completion of the restoration efforts and forced the corps to scale back on the project itself, and you can see the pressure building on the district.

The scientists evaluating the district were correct in calling the lake and the Everglades ecosystem "a national, international treasure." Unfortunately, all signs point to a disturbing reality: It's being left to the state of Florida to figure out how to preserve it.